Genesis – The Way We Walk, Vol. 2: The Longs – review

Genesis Live 1992 | The Way We Walk – Volume 2: The Longs

And suddenly it is there. The Longs, the second part of the Way We Walk live album for which you have to pay some DM30 [15EUR] instead of the “specially reduced price” mentioned in the first part of the live album.

Background

Although Tony describes the strange division of Genesis’ fourth live album with the words, “This gives you the opportunity to choose between one of the two parts, depending on your mood,” many fans find themselves frowning at this business policy. Why on earth doesn’t Genesis release a double album? That would certainly encourage listeners to get the feeling of a concert experience? Okay, at least you can put together a complete Genesis concert from the We Can’t Dance tour from “Shorts” and “Longs,” but who would go to that trouble? Somehow, one gets the impression that this release is nothing more than another flawless and perfectly staged step toward a flawless track record.

The Songs

The sound quality of both albums is breathtaking, giving the impression that this is yet another studio production. The “sterile” mixing of the live material has also inevitably resulted in the audience being virtually inaudible, except for the applause. It’s a miracle that a few snippets of announcements have found their way onto the silver discs at all. Phil announces “Mister Rutherford” at the beginning of the first track of The Longs. A little later the sounds of Dance On A Volcano, the first part of the “Old Medley,” as it was affectionately called, can be heard. After The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, The Musical Box and Firth Of Fifth also proved musically and sonically convincing. Then I Know What I Like follows with snippets of further “oldies”. Those are That’s All, Illegal Alien, Follow You Follow Me and the finale of Stagnation.

Incidentally, one might suspect that the line “Me, I’m just a lawnmower – you can tell me by the way I walk” from I Know What I Like provided the idea for the album title. Unfortunately, no further details are known. The next song, Driving The Last Spike, once again highlights Genesis’ fantastic musical abilities. It’s truly amazing how the live presentation is in no way inferior to the studio version. This is followed by a string of absolute gems from the last three albums. First up is Domino, which almost lets you feel the dark atmosphere it contains. It’s really great how this piece sweeps you away.

With Fading Lights and Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea, the audience then (finally) divides, as the long instrumental sections in both pieces are more likely to make the hearts of fans beat faster, who don’t care whether a song has become a hit or not. The album concludes with Drum Duet. It not only impresses with its gripping rhythm, but also immortalizes the extraordinary drumming skills of Phil Collins and Chester Thompson in an unprecedented way. Despite all this, many fans will find it very difficult to mention The Way We Walk in the same breath as past live albums such as Three Sides Live (the English pressing with the additional live songs is particularly of interest) or even Seconds Out.

by Bernd Zindler
English by Martin Klinkhardt
first published in German in it magazine #6 (March 1993)